


So Long

by Lilac_narry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Based off So Long which I’m pretty sure Niall wrote, M/M, heartbreak and fluff, i’ll link below, just narry being young and in love, regardless I thought of narry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 13:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilac_narry/pseuds/Lilac_narry
Summary: But if you knew all along, why did it take so long?//They’re in love and Harry’s an idiot.





	So Long

**Author's Note:**

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TPoe5Y5TR88 
> 
> ^^^^  
> A link to the song that inspired this

_2010_

Niall couldn’t place his finger on the feeling; the one he got sitting next to Harry on a first class flight back to Mullingar.

There was an unspoken thickness between them and Niall had an overwhelming urge to reach over and grasp Harry’s hand in his, just touch him in any way he could.

“I’m excited to finally meet the lovely woman who brought up the one and only Niall Horan. Oh and your father too, of course.” Harry said, adding in a second later, “It’s cool of you to bring me with you, since I couldn’t go home.” Harry smiled gratefully at Niall, his short ringlets, barely grazing his forehead and his dimples more prominent on his face then, than they’d ever be again.

“Course, couldn’t ask for better company. Maybe you can impress Ma with your baking skills?” Niall nudged harry, a teasing smile playing at his lips.

_Harry didn’t tell Niall until a year later that he worked cash, never really baked a thing on his own until recently. The cheeky bastard._

X

_2011_

“It’s still so surreal.” Louis pointed out, jumping around backstage. He and Zayn messing about as they usually did.

Niall was sat beside Harry, legs draped over his friends lap, playing with his lovely curls.

“You guys think we’ll do another tour someday?” Harry hummed in wonderment, shifting slightly to get comfortable, and looking around the room at his band mates.

“This ones barely started, Harry. Of course there’ll be more, but you’ve got to live in the moment lad!” Zayn smiled, they were all living their dreams and it was the time of their lives. None of them could see the future but they were so optimistic.

“I suppose so. I just know this is what I’m meant to do, what were meant to do, I don’t want us to end.”

_And sure Harry was including all the boys in his statement, but he was staring directly at Niall._

X

_2012_

It was Niall who held Harry the first time it got to be too much. He was sobbing on the floor of their tour bus near the end of their ‘Up all Night’ tour.

Louis’d just started a screaming match with Harry, about something that was way out of his control. It’s not like Harry and Louis were actually together. Sure maybe he chose not to sit with Niall sometimes so the fans wouldn’t catch him staring a little too long, so Niall wouldn’t; but it backfired. Larry rumours were flying around, and then the harassment of their families and friends started, and Louis just snapped.

“He hates me. How are we supposed to move forward, Niall?”

Niall swallowed hard, he always figured if there were rumours like this, he’d be on the receiving end. “I-I don’t know Haz. But, you know he was just projecting. It’s not like this is in any way your fault, I know that’s what you’ve got in your head.” Niall said, running his hand down Harry’s back as he pulled him close to his chest.

He let Harry cry, having said his peace; it’s not like he could say anything to fix Harry’s heart in that moment. Zayn and Liam had taken Louis to the other bus where security and staff stayed so he could get some space.

_Niall didn’t know why he felt his heart ache desperately, almost as if they shared a heart, shared their pain._

X

_2013_

A movie. Niall couldn’t believe it. He and Harry walked shoulder to shoulder as they made their way down the red carpet at the ‘This is Us’ premiere.

He could hear ‘Best Song Ever’ playing faintly, somewhere far off and he couldn’t imagine walking the carpet with anyone else by his side.

“The amount of interviews we’ve got today is insane.” Harry noted, placing his hand on Niall’s lower back as he leaned in closer so Niall could hear him.

“Yeah, wonder why in the world they’d seperare us from the other three.” Niall replied sarcastically. They both knew exactly why.

_Two days earlier_

It had started as a joke Liam made. They had been able to move past the ‘Larry incidents’ for the most part, however Liam and Zayn didn’t seem to get how touchy the subject really was, making light of it often.

“Wow I can’t believe you two are having a conversation, when’s the wedding lads?” Liam remarked, earning a harsh glare from Niall.

Harry and Louis stopped mid-sentence, both growing tense at the comment. “Are you kidding me Liam?” Harry rolled his eyes, “You should know by now not to comment on that shit.”

Niall walked over to Liam, placing a hand on his shoulder before whispering to him in a soft manner “They’re just talking again recently, don’t make it awkward again.”

“What are you whispering about? Whatever you’ve just said, you can say out loud.” Louis turned into a completely different person whenever ‘Larry’ was brought up.

“He was just looking out for you guys, mate.” Zayn piped up, obviously having heard Niall.

“Sure, Okay. Maybe he was looking out for Harry cause they’re boyfriends or whatever but you go around moping like this shit affects you too Niall. Newsflash, it doesn’t.”

“First of all, you should know better than to make accusations you know aren’t true, that’s what got us here, yeah? And second, It affects all of us, Louis. Yes you and Harry get the worst of it, but we need to be united as a band. Nobody in this room has done anything to contribute to whatever the fans think is going on and you’re blind if you don’t see that. We’re all here for you when it gets to be too much, the sooner you realize that, the easier it will be for everyone.” Niall yelled, feeling a sudden urge of protection over Harry.

Paul must’ve arrived during Niall’s speech. “Well I suppose the interview pairings have just been decided.” He mumbled, probably texting some event coordinater.

_Harry took a deep breath in, wondering if Niall were his boyfriend, if things would really be all that different._

X

_2014_

“Ah! Fuck you Tommo!” Niall boomed, a playful smile on his face as he dropped his controller in frustration.

“Should’ve been paying attention, yeah?” Louis knocked Niall on the head, giving him a knowing smile.

Okay, yeah maybe Niall’s gaze shifted over to Harry a couple times during the match but he looked so peaceful and he felt bad disturbing him.

Things with Louis were so much better now, especially after Niall had confided in him about his feelings for Harry. It took a while for him to come to terms with the way he felt about the boy but when he was finally ready to tell someone, he was four beers in and Louis was around. It ended up being one of the best decisions he’d made though; it helped Louis realize that no matter what the fans thought was going on, there was so much more to what meets the eye and he couldn’t hate Harry forever; especially since it wasn’t anyone’s fault per say, well no one in the band.

“You know, he thinks I’m shagging Ellie.” Niall whispered lowly, ending his sentence with a frown.

Louis sighed, crawling over to Niall to pull him in for a comforting hug, “You didn’t want to tell him you weren’t?” And yeah, it seemed so simple, but quite honestly who goes up to their best mate to just let them know who they are and aren’t shagging.

Niall didn’t really want to delve into it, with Harry sleeping not two feet away, so he sighed and gave Louis a shrug before starting another round because he wasn’t going to just let Louis win.

_And maybe he lost that one too, because Harry looked so peaceful when he was sleeping and he couldn’t be bothered to look away._

X

_2015_

The four of them sat in a heavy silence, all getting the notification at once.

“Statements out.” Liam acknowledged, gulping heavily.

None of them felt prepared to read a sugar coated version of what Zayn had told them less than a week ago. It hit them all like a freight train and they barely had time to recover before it was time to tell the fans what none of them wanted to hear.

“This feels like a nightmare.” Harry said in a hushed tone, reaching out to grasp Niall’s hand for comfort.

Even in a time like this Niall’s heart picked up its pace at the feeling of Harry’s hand enveloping his own. “It’ll be okay. It’s not right now, but we’ve got a tour and an album to finish and no matter what happens we’ve got each other, and we’ve got our solid fan base.” Niall said, looking encouragingly, however in the moment everybody felt too broken to respond with more than a simple nod.

_Later that night_

Niall and Harry were sharing a room. Thankfully, there wasn’t a show for the next two days so they were able to spend the night in Jakarta.

Harry was tossing and turning, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Not that Zayn leaving had anything to do with him, he just hated letting the fans down.

“I know you’re beating yourself up over there.” Niall said from his bed, his voice heavy from how tired he was.

Harry turned over to face Niall and smiled softly “How do you always know?”

Niall got up, going to lie next to the boy he was in love with. “I know you. You’ve got this big heart, and you want to fix everything that’s wrong because you can’t help but feel responsible if somebody else is suffering, especially when you aren’t. You’ve got to breathe, Harry. You’ve got to think about yourself too.” Niall said, reaching out to run his fingers through Harry’s long locks.

Harry was crying, he couldn’t believe how well Niall understood him. He understood Niall in the same way though so, through his tears he nodded before saying “You too, Niall. I know you don’t feel the same guilt that I do, but you repress things, you’ve got to work through this. We’ve got to work through this.”

Niall brought his forehead to Harry’s, their breaths mingling together as they both let themselves be vulnerable to the other; softly crying, they brought their lips together in a gentle kiss. Neither of them saying anything of it before they fell asleep holding one another close.

_Niall was happy, of course to finally have felt Harry’s lips on his, but he still felt there was something unspoken, something that needed to be resolved._

X

_2016_

When Harry’s first suggested the break there was a rift. But, as they stood on the stage where it all began, performing together for the last time in who knows how long, there was nothing but love between the four boys.

They were backstage now, Niall running into Harry’s arms as soon as they got off stage. He couldn’t believe how happy he was though his heart was breaking.

He couldn’t help but wish that Harry had thought about what the break would do to what they had. Sure, they never labelled it but Niall’d been in love with Harry for as long as he could remember, and Harry showed him he loved him in a new way every single day so it had to have meant something.

Harry never wanted to talk about how he felt, and Niall was growing increasingly more and more tired. Because he’d made it clear to Harry how in love with him he was in a screaming match the night that Harry’d decided he needed to branch off, and suggested everyone else do so as well.

“I’m going to miss you.”Harry whispered, placing a loving kiss to Niall’s forehead.

Niall’s knees went weak in the worst way possible, he felt as if he’d just been unofficially broken up with. “Yeah.” He whispered hoarsely, taking in a sharp breath as if not to cry, “You too.”

_And when Niall spent that whole evening drinking his sorrows away at Louis’ flat, then he figured he deserved it. So did Louis, this time._

X

_2016 continued_

Realizing ‘This Town’ was about him nearly brought Harry to insanity. It was two days after he’d written a crappy, self loathing song about how much he missed having Niall by his side. He was awoken on a day off by a banging on his door.

Harry shot out of bed, confused as to who was here, whomever it was he knew they had to have known the code to his gate.

“Harry Styles!”

Louis. Of course it was Louis, he was never afraid to disturb anyone who deserved to be disturbed.

Harry cracked open the door, pulling a face of innocence and confusion “What brings you to my doorstep at this hour?”

Louis huffed, pushing in to Harry’s flat. “You’re so dense, mate. You’ve heard Niall’s song, yeah?”

Harry felt a sinking in his stomach, it felt like he’d just been hit with a million bricks. Was the song about him? Surely Louis wasn’t here to tell him otherwise.  
Harry stood there, slowly pointing to himself like an idiot.

“Yeah it’s about you. Who else? He’s been blowing up my phone for the last forty eight hours with drunk, panicked texts he’s a wreck mate.” Louis sighed, shoving his long text history with Niall in Harry’s face. “You broke his heart and you’ve never even had the decency to admit it.”

“I didn’t- I mean- I love him.” Harry stuttered out, an immense feeling of guilt pooling in his stomach.

“Yeah, well, unfortunately he loves you too.”

_And when Harry spent that whole evening drinking his sorrows away at Louis’ flat, then he figured he deserved it. Louis wasn’t so sure._

X

_2017_

Niall was about to board his flight when he saw him. Inconspicuously, he was sat in the first class lounge having a drink.

Niall thought about forgetting it, getting on his flight home so he didn’t have to reschedule. He couldn’t help himself though. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own as he walked towards the head of now-short curls.

“Hi.” He said from behind Harry, setting his travel case aside so he could sit next to Harry.

He could hear Harry’s breath hitch before he turned around to look at Niall. “Niall.” He whispered, almost as if he spoke too loud Niall might vanish.

“How’ve you been, Haz? I missed you.” Niall queried, holding back all the heavy stuff, the stuff that he tried not to think about because his heart still felt broken.

“I’ve been okay. I miss you too, though, a lot.” He admitted, turning to face Niall fully.

“Where are you headed?” Niall asked, resisting the urge to reach out and brush Harry’s curls behind his ears, even though they’re too short too even stay back.

“I actually just got back here, to London. I have a break before my next show.”

“I do too.” Niall admitted, ignoring the final boarding call for his flight.

“He’ll have a Guinness Draught, put it on my tab.” Harry said as the bartender turned to check in with him.

Niall gave Harry a look, but neither of them said a thing.

_The next morning_

Harry turned over in his bed, loving the feeling of waking up at home with fresh bed sheets and... Niall, he realized as his eyes adjusted.

He sat in wonderment. Had this been it for Niall, or was this the time they would both stop being idiots and realize they were always going to fall back to one another.

Harry took a deep breath, turning so that he was spooning Niall. He began placing soft kisses along his neck to wake him up “Niall, Babe, wake up.”

Niall stirred awake, trying to fight the grin appearing on his face when he felt Harry pressed up next to him, whispering sweetly to him.

Niall turned around to face Harty, nuzzling his head into the crook of his neck. “Please don’t go this time.”

_Harry felt a pang of guilt fire up in his chest and before his throat got caught on his emotions he whispered “I’m here as long as you’ll have me.”_

X

_2018_

It wasn’t like the four of them were together very often, not in the last two years, that is.

So when they all decided it was finally time to see each other again as a group, in between tours and promo, it was kind of a big deal.

“I know I was trying to be cool about this, but I’m really fucking excited.” Niall said, coming around to corner with two stacks of freshly folded laundry.

Harry chuckled

“I know you are babe, I am too. I also think we can tell the boys about us, now. I mean we’ve actually made it work for ten months now, as a real couple and I think we’re in a place where we’re secure enough in our relationship to answer any of their questions.” Harry smiled.

“I love you, Harry.” Was Niall’s response as he wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck, grinning up widely at him.

_And Harry wondered for a second why it took so long for him to be able to say, with ease, “I love you too, more than anything.”_

 

 

 

 


End file.
